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Trump Signals That He Wants to Restart the War on Drugs

Richard Nixon and Ronald and Nancy Reagan would be watching this White House with a smug sense of satisfaction. Not because of President Donald Trump’s coziness with Russia, or his cavalier attitude about sexual assault, but because of the Trump administration’s views on drugs and criminal justice. It’s hard not to imagine all these old white people in a chorus line together celebrating locking people up for using cannabis.

Trump has not spoken explicitly about cannabis policy since he took office in January, but he told a joint session of Congress last week that “drugs” are “poisoning our youth.” His administration has shaken the confidence of the legal weed industry with statements suggesting punitive action toward recreational weed. White House press secretary Sean “Spicy” Spicer told reporters two weeks ago that the Trump administration saw medical marijuana as a “very, very different subject” than recreational marijuana. Subsequently, he said the Department of Justice would start a “greater enforcement” of existing federal cannabis laws. Asked for specifics, Spicer referred reporters to the Department of Justice.